Around Karaganda

As you know, we are staying in an apartment like any regular Josef or Josefa.

(F Y'all's I: HOT GUSHING WATER. Sometimes. We ran the clothes washing machine. And actually had showers. Just as Larisa said it would happen!)

And it turns out that Larisa and Olga placed us in a great spot, right down town. So we are having the greatest experience, not just with the baby (though that could not be better and I have never been happier) but even in our explorations and outings. Here are a few of the sights we see.


Karaganda is a coal mining town; this is a monument to the coal miners.



Many streets (downtown at least) are named after people, and the street has a plaque describing the person. We have so much to learn!














To provide some entertainment, the Soviet era built a beautiful theater and called it the Palace of the Coal Miners. Along the top, these statues tell their stories.


Sunny beautiful day for a wedding at the fountain.


These are not Chinese foo dogs: they are griffins. Snow leopards and griffins abound. We like them. Maybe Mitch will carry back a pair of foo griffins like these for me :)

Kazakhstan is the site of Baikonur, the Soviet Cape Kennedy,where the cosmonauts launched into space. This mural adorns an apartment building by a major intersection.


We pass by this church also on our way to the orphanage.










And no tour would be complete without the statue of Lenin.

More later, gators.
Bobi